What kind of career path is there for a nonprofit COO?
Some experienced chief operating officers of nonprofit organizations go on to become EDs. However, the two jobs are very different, and they sometimes attract people with quite different skill sets, personalities, and profiles. Some COOs consider themselves “career COOs”—more suited for that position than for the ED role. For career COOs, the key to continued career growth is to keep taking on new challenges. This can mean moving to a COO position at a larger or more complex organization, or to an organization with a structure that gives the COO more responsibility—or taking on new challenges within an organization that is itself growing and changing. For example, one COO we interviewed who considers herself a career COO works at an organization that is merging with another nonprofit. Although she has left jobs in the past because they didn’t offer enough new challenges, as she looks at her organization’s plans for change and growth in the next five years, she sees significant opportun
